All made up

Back in the day, our ablutions involved little more than a cursory hosing down in the back yard. Consequently, it's taken us years to learn that there's more to smelling lovely than a quick wipe with a damp sponge. For a truly professional approach, you'll need to resort to those fancy body lotions stuffed with essential oils and extracts and plant bits. Shengaia's Skin Drink is delicately scented and the satisfying consistency of Greek yogurt. Lancôme's Milk, by contrast, is a slippery eel of a lotion that won't take all morning to soak in. Space NK's Body Balm comes in four fragrances, of which our favourite is Soulful, a blend of rose, lily and heliotrope. To be honest, we're always impressed by anything that allows us to use the word heliotrope.